My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils honor Roberts by defeating the Cardinals, 7-2.

The Phils honor the late Robin Roberts by defeating their rival the Cardinals, 7-2. They increase their present winning streak to three games, while increasing their lead in the East to two games over both the Mets and the Nationals.

After honoring the late Robin Roberts before the game, the Phils took a quick 3-0 lead in the third as, with two men on, and with two men out, Jayson Werth, who is from Roberts’ hometown of Springfield, Ill., hits a three-run home run, his fifth home run of the year, knocking in Chase Utley, who had earlier singled, and Ryan Howard, who had walked, moving Utley up to second base. The Cards got a run back in the second as, with a runner on third, via a Werth three-base fielding error of a David Freese fly ball, and with one man out, Freese scored on a Wilson Valdez throwing error of a Jason LaRue grounder, making it a 3-1 Phils’ lead, while allowing LaRue to move up to second on the bad throw. The Phils increased their lead in their half of the second as, with runners on second and third, and with two men out, Howard hits a two-run single, knocking in Phils’ starter Roy Halladay, who reached first base on a Tyler Greene throwing error, and then went to third on Shane Victorino’s double, and Victorino, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 5-1 lead. The Phils added to their lead in the fifth as Raul Ibanez hits a lead-off home run, his second home run of the season, making it a 6-1 Phils’ lead. The Cardinals got a run back in the seventh as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, Albert Pujols hits an RBI single, knocking in pinch hitter Jon Jay, who had earlier singled, and went to third on Skip Schumaker’s single, cutting the Phils’ lead to 6-2, while sending Schumaker, who had earlier singled, up to second base. The Phils got the run back in their half of the seventh as, with two runners on, and with one man out, Carlos Ruiz hits an RBI single, scoring Werth, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 7-2 lead. That would be the final score as Chad Durbin and Danys Baez pitch two scoreless innings.

Roy Halladay got the win as he pitches seven innings, giving up two runs, only one of which was earned, on seven hits and three walks, while he strikes out nine. His record is now 6-1 with a 1.45 ERA. Chad Durbin pitches a scoreless inning, hitting two batters. Danys Baez pitches a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out a batter. Kyle Lohse took the lose as he pitches only four innings, giving up five runs, only three of which were earned, on nine hits and a walk, while he strikes out three. Blake Hawksworth pitches one and two-thirds innings, giving up a run on two hits, while striking out one. Trever Miller pitches a third of an inning, getting out the only man that he would face. Jason Motte pitches an inning, giving up a run on three hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. Dennys Reyes pitches a scoreless inning, walking a batter.

The Phils had fourteen hits, with Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz leading the way with three hits each, with Werth’s hits being a three-run home run and two doubles, knocking in three runs while scoring two runs, while Ruiz had two singles and a double, knocking in a run. They were followed by Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez who had two hits apiece, with Howard having two singles, knocking in two runs, while Ibanez’s hits were a single and a solo home run. Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley and Wilson Valdez had the other four Phils’ hit, with Victorino and Valdez both having doubles and Polanco and Utley both having singles.

The Phils (17-11, 1st) will conclude their home stand with a three-game series against the Braves (12-16, 5th). The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils will send to the mound Jamie Moyer (3-2, 5.70), who is coming off a win against the Mets on May 2, as he went six innings, giving up five runs on six hits, while he struck out two, in the Phils’ 11-5 win. He will be trying to continue the Phils good home stand while trying to lower his ERA. The Braves will counter with Derek Lowe (4-2, 5.18), who is coming off a win against the Astros on May 2, as he went five innings, giving up a run on six hits and a walk, while he struck out three, in the Braves’ 7-1 win. He will try to even his record against the Phils, while trying to end the Phils’ present winning streak. The Phils will be trying to increase their present winning streak to four games, while increasing their lead in the division.

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